Disney announces reallife Expedition Everest: Mission Himalayas

At a media event at Disney's Animal Kingdom on Friday, Disney announced
Expedition Everest: Mission Himalayas, a reallife scientific expedition
to the Himalayas to explore the realm of the yeti. The scientific
and cultural expedition to search for new species and ancient legends,
two years in the making, will be undertaken in conjunction with Conservation
International and Discovery Networks.

The expedition, to take place from August through October of this year,
will explore regions of China and the eastern Himalayas, which are remote
areas known as biodiversity hot spots that are thought to be havens for
undiscovered species of plants and animals. Findings and results of the
expedition will be shared with the scientific and conservation community,
and may also be incorporated into the attraction Expedition Everest.

One long commute

The Disney corporate jet got a major crosscountry workout last week,
as executives shuttled back and forth between the West Coast and East
Coast resorts. After the Tuesday night preview at Disney's California
Adventure, CEOelect Bob Iger and Parks & Resorts President Jay Rasulo
took the jet for a redeye flight to Walt Disney World, where they participated
in the media events at the DisneyMGM Studios and made an appearance in
the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday. After the media interviews were done,
they hopped back on the plane in order to make it back to the Disneyland
Resort in time to take part in the official kickoff festivities at Disneyland
Park on Thursday. Once that was over, Rasulo returned to Walt Disney World
for the events at Disney's Animal Kingdom early Friday morning.

Party ticket pricing shows new twist

Ticket pricing for Mickey's NotSoScary Halloween Party and Mickey's
Very Merry Christmas Party has changed a bit this year. For starters,
there will be no advancepurchase discount available for Halloween night
at the Halloween party. Tickets for October 31 will cost $42.55 per adult
and $35.10 per child regardless of when they are purchased. Those same
prices will hold for all tickets bought the day of the event. Advance
purchase prices for all other nights are $37.23 per adult and $29.77 per
child. Annual and Seasonal Passholders receive a discounted price of $31.90
per adult and $25.51 per child (maximum 4 tickets per passholder), but
only for September 30 and October 2, 6, 20, 23 and 25.

For Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party the cost is a bit more, with advance
purchase prices for all dates costing $41.49 per adult and $31.90 per
child. Advance purchase discounts are not available for Friday night parties.
Friday night and dayofevent prices are $46.81 per adult, $37.23 per
child. Annual and Seasonal Passholders receive a discounted price of $35.10
per adult and $27.64 per child (maximum 4 tickets per passholder), but
only for November 29 and December 1, 4 and 13.

Tickets for both parties may be purchased by calling 407WDISNEY (4079347639).

Scopa's Notes from last week

Some random notes from Mike Scopa during his visit for the Happiest Celebration
on Earth events:

Disney is expanding steam train tours from three days a week to either
four or five days a week. The change takes place later this month, and
one of the added tours is targeted at children.

The latest round of changes to Stitch's Great Escape have improved
the show slightly, and the story line is marginally better.

The current rumor is that the MGM deal is dead, and that the name
of the DisneyMGM Studios theme park will change later this summer
to drop the MGM portion.

There have been a number of complaints that there is no wheelchair
viewing area for Cinderellabration, making it difficult for those
with limited mobility to see the show.

Mike notes that the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station has good food
and the selection is diverse. You can choose the level of your spicing
(from bland to spicy). The green iced tea, though, is overpriced.

The Pooh's Playful Spot HundredAcre Woodthemed
playground on the site of the old 20,000 Leagues lagoon looks great.
It's huge and very well done.

There are many complaints about the Disney's Magical Express system,
with some guests vowing never to use it again due to how long it took
to get everything taken care of (in one case, nearly 90 minutes from
the airport to the guest's room). It looks like Disney still needs to
work the kinks out of this system.

The newly refurbished Garden Grill Restaurant is going through some
difficulties with its new a la carte menu, with lots of problems in
food quality, time of service and so on. Table turnover is much slower
now that the familystyle service has been dropped. They still
need to get the bugs out. One of Mike's sources pointed out that several
courses came out at one time (salad, main course, and so on.). And,
perhaps most oddly, there is a noticeable lack of vegetables on the
menu.

Mike notes that the first showing of the day of Cinderellabration
provides the best lighting for photos.

The resort sports new merchandise bags for the Happiest Celebration on
Earth. Scanned image by Brian Bennett.

Canine genderbender

You know those dogs from the Walt Disney World commercials? The border
collie/terrier mix who romances a poodle, and eventually, in a later commercial,
return to the park with their puppyies? Well, they were present for the
media events at the resort last week, and it turns out that they're not
exactly what they seemed to be. Apparently, the girl poodle is played
by a boy dog named Romeo and the boy collie/terrier mix is played by a
girl named Casper.

Radisson announced new discounted rate

The Radisson Resort Parkway, a MousePlanet sponsor, has announced newly
discounted summer rates. From May 13 through August 13, rates start at
$87 per night, with the exception of Memorial Day and July Fourth weekends,
where rates start at $117. These rates tie in with the Happiest Celebration
on Earth. Click here
for more information, or here
to make reservations now.

Seasonal employee job fair to be held this week

It's that time of year again. Walt Disney World will be holding a job
fair May 1215 to fill 2,000 seasonal positions. The number of positions
is about the same as last year. Perhaps concerned with whether they will
find qualified candidates, the resort has announced an incentive for current
cast members to refer possible new employees. For each referred applicant
hired, the resort will give the referring cast member a $50 gasoline gift
card. Character and parade performer auditions will be held in conjunction
with the job festival. Qualified candidates may receive a job offer the
same day.

Holiday Inn offers 93cent rate after computer error found

The 323room Holiday Inn on Hotel Plaza Boulevard adjacent to Downtown
Disney will finally reopen on August 1 after major repairs due to the
three hurricanes that blasted through Central Florida last fall. But in
entering their rates into the Holiday Inn reservations system, they misplaced
a decimal point, resulting in 400 guests reserving 1,208 room nights for
93 cents to $1.13 per night instead of $93 to $113 per night before the
error was discovered 17 hours later. The estimated savings for those rooms
by those who made their reservations is more than $110,000.

Not one to miss a promotional opportunity, Holiday Inn General Manager
Glenn Aycock created a special fivenight grand reopening promotion valid
from September 10 through December 24 this year. Those guests who book
their rooms by September 30 will receive a rate of 93 cents for the fifth
night of their stay when they make a fivenight reservation. The rate
is only available by calling the hotel directly at 4078288888.

Ears to the ground

Walt Disney World celebration attendees were able to escape Christina
Aguilera's rendition of When You Wish Upon A Star at Disneyland's
kickoff festivities, and instead were treated to Andrea McArdle,
Jennifer Holliday and Eden Espinoza singing a medley of The Second
Star to the Right, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes
and Once Upon a Dream. However, they did not get to hear Julie
Andrews' speech or see the live conclusion to the Coming Home
commercial. [For the full Disneyland version of the festivities, see the
video archived on MousePlanet (link).
Beware, the file is about 40 MB.]

For the first time in almost four years, it appears that vacationers
are starting to book more trips months in advance, rather than weeks.
This may (or may not) lead to changes in the quantity of lodging discounts
available. We'll have to wait and see.

Walt Disney World will soon begin installing GPS satellite tracking
systems on the resort's bus fleet. The Global Positioning System, which
should be fully operational by next year, will be able to track which
buses are underutilized and which routes are overloaded. This should allow
Disney to better utilize the fleet in getting guests from place to place,
while also allowing them to cut unneeded buses and drivers.

Don't keep it to yourself! Send us your news tips,
rumors, and comments. Email us here.

Magic Kingdom

Peter Pan's Flight  closed for refurbishment from May
2226.

20,000 League Under the Sea lagoon  most of the area
has reopened, featuring corraltype planters and more walkway space.
The remainder is transforming into a Hundred Acre Woodthemed children's
play area featuring slides, climbing structures, and interactive popjet
fountains. The area, to be called Pooh's Playful Spot, is
expected to open around September..

Epcot

The Wonders of Life pavilion  open seasonally. The Pure
and Simple eatery and the Well and Goods Limited shop have
been removed, while the Body Wars, Cranium Command, and
The Making of Me attractions now open when the pavilion is open.
The pavilion is currently closed.

DisneyMGM Studios

No current refurbishments.

Animal Kingdom

Lucky the Dinosaur  is scheduled to appear in May 
July, 2005.

Expedition Everest  is scheduled to open in Spring 2006.
The likely official opening date is April 22, which is both Earth Day
and the park's birthday, but previews may start as early as February
2006.

Resorts

Polynesian Resort  nearing completion of the refurbishment
of longhouses: suites in Tonga through May 12; Tahiti April 24 
August 17; Tokelau May  September. Work on the Great Ceremonial
House also appears to be underway: stores moving to the main lobby area;
Captain Cook's Snack Company expanding to fill the rest of the rear
of the building.

Contemporary Resort  The South Garden wing will be closed
for refurbishment from May 30  October 31. Rumors indicate that
the buildings may be completely gutted and rebuilt as Disney Vacation
Club villas. No confirmation of the conversion yet.

BoardWalk Resort  Conversion of the previous
Disney Vacation Club sales center into 19 additional villastyle accommodations
through June, and the second floor villas located directly above the
project area not available for booking during the construction. Major
pipe replacement project underway in corridors outside guest rooms daily
9 a.m.  5 p.m. through summer 2005. No work scheduled inside guest
rooms.

Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa  Phase I's construction
of four buildings complete; Phase II's eight units are opening one each
month, through October 2005; Phase III's the six units due in 2007,
involves razing the old Fairway Villas.

Latesummer Passholder and Florida resident rates are out

Annual Passholder and Florida Resident discounts have been released for
July 5 through August 27, with rates starting at $74 per night for value
resorts and $99 per night for moderate resorts. Discount codes are EXE
for passholders and EXF for Florida residents. See the Passholder web
site (link)
or MouseSavers (link)
for more information.

Radisson Resort Parkway announces rates through 2005

Radisson Resort Parkway, a MousePlanet sponsor, has announced their rates
through the end of 2005.

Disney's Summer Price Slice discount returns to golf courses

Summer Price Slice is back with reducedprice greens fees on tee times
after 10 a.m. daily from May 2 through Sept. 29 on Disney's five 18hole
golf courses.

Golfers can play the premier Osprey Ridge course after 10 a.m. for $60
(compared to a normal seasonal greens fee of $119) or Eagle Pines for
$50 (compared to a normal seasonal fee of $109). Post10 a.m. rounds on
the Magnolia, Palm or Lake Buena Vista courses are $45 (compared to a
normal seasonal fee of $89$94). Prices include golf cart rental.

Disney's Summer Price Slice also gives golfers the opportunity to play
afternoon rounds late into the day. Golfers can take on Osprey Ridge after
3 p.m. for $35 ($30 after 5 p.m.). Eagle Pines, Magnolia and Palm start
at $30 after 3 p.m. ($25 after 5 p.m.). Rounds at Lake Buena Vista start
at $25 after 3 p.m. ($20 after 5 p.m.).

For tee times, call 407WDWGOLF (4079394653) or go to the Walt Disney
World Golf web site (link).

Plan ahead and save a few bucks

The entire price structure has changed as of January 2, 2005, to the
new Magic Your Way passes. Advance purchase discounts are
only available on tickets above the base ticket of at least 5 days.

Adult/Child Total Cost

1day

2day

3day

4day

5day

6day

7day

8day

9day

10day

Base Ticket

$59.75 / $48

$119 / $96

$171 / $137

$185 / $148

$193 / $155

$196 / $157

$199 / $160

$202 / $162

$205 / $164

$209 / $167

W/ Park Hopper

$94.75 / $83

$154 / $131

$206 / $172

$220 / $183

$228 / $190

$231 / $192

$234 / $195

$237 / $197

$240 / $199

$244 / $202

W/ Plus Pack

$104.75 / $93

$164 / $141

$216 / $182

$230 / $193

$238 / $200

$241 / $202

$244 / $205

$247 / $207

$250 / $209

$254 / $212

(plus 2)

(plus 2)

(plus 2)

(plus 3)

(plus 3)

(plus 4)

(plus 5)

(plus 5)

(plus 5)

(plus 5)

Premium Ticket

$139.75 / $128

$199 / $176

$251 / $217

$265 / $228

$273 / $235

$276 / $237

$279 / $240

$282 / $242

$285 / $245

$289 / $247

Premium, No Expiration

N/A

$209 / $186

$261 / $227

$280 / $243

$308 / $270

$321 / $282

$334 / $295

$382 / $342

$392 / $395

$399 / $347

Advance Purchase Discount

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

$7/$6

$9/$7

$11/$9

$11/$9

$11/$9

$12/$9

Annual Passholders

Receive 10 percent off the price of their lunch meal at selected
Walt Disney World Resort hotel restaurants, and the discount is good for
up to three guests. The offer is valid Mondays through Fridays. Call 407WDWDINE
(4079393463) for locations and reservations.

Mark (@MPMark) is a veteran of dozens of trips to Walt Disney World starting in 1972, with a few Disneyland trips thrown in for good measure. As a Disney stockholder and a Disney Vacation Club member, Mark is always in touch with what's going on with The Mouse. Mark serves as MousePlanet's Walt Disney World content coordinator. Mark is a senior information technology manager working for the State of New York. He lives in the suburbs outside Albany, New York, with his wife and son.

MousePlanet® is not associated in any official way with the Walt Disney Company, its subsidiaries, or its affiliates. The official Disney site is available at www.disney.com. This MousePlanet Web site provides independent news articles, commentary, editorials, reviews, and guides primarily about the theme park resorts of the Walt Disney Co. All information on this site is subject to change. Please call destinations in advance to confirm the most up-to-date information.